Children's Sermon Epiphany 8A Feb 27, 2011

Scripture Focus: Matthew 6:24-34

Children’s Sermon #1 (Within Worship/shorter version)

**Invite someone to join you in this children sermon for a bit of ‘acting’ fun. This can be another adult, youth, or even older elementary aged child.

Faith+Open--Welcome children to gather with you.

Person 1: Walk around a bit and wring your hands looking worried.

Oh, I am so worried. I’m just worried about what should I do? Where should I go? Who can help me? I’m… just worried.

Person 2: Hey, what’s going on? Why are you so upset?

Person 1: I am just not sure about… well, I am… well, worried about all the things to do and choose from….and…

Person 2: Oh my, yeah, there can be lots of things that make us worry. (turn to kids) What are things that make you worry? (invite responses)

Person 1: See, seems like worrying is what we need to do!

Faith+Share:

Person 2: Well, I understand, there are worrisome things but we also have this message from God in our Gospel today.  

Read from Spark Storybook Bible or version. Below are the words from Spark Storybook Bible 

Jesus loved to teach people about how God wants people to live. “God takes care of us!” Jesus said. “Don’t worry about what you are going to eat or what you might wear or when you’ll grow taller. God will take care of these things for you. Look at the birds. Do they worry about what they eat? Of course not! God makes sure they have good. Look at the flowers. Do they worry about what color they are? Of course not! God made them each beautiful in their own way. And God makes you beautiful too. You’re beautiful simply because you are you!”  Then Jesus said, “Listen! There is far more to life than worrying. Worry gets you nowhere—so stop! The one things you need to do is put God first. Trust that God will take care of you!” Spark Storybook Bible, Augsburg Fortress, p. 276

Person 1: Oh, so just worrying probably isn’t helping me. God is promising to be there through all these things that make me worry.

Person 2: Yep, that’s right. God’s love is big and wide and God’s love is always with you. So when you worry—because we all do, we can remember these words from God and promises from Jesus. We can pray and ask for peace and we can think about these words instead of all the worries in our heads and hearts.

***Additional Option: This is a great way to open up the service to include all ages in engaging in giving our worries to God. I so hope someone does this! Tell me about it if you do!

Have kids write or draw their worries on pieces of paper and then tape them to a giant heart shape. After they are on, cover them up with another heart that matches so that they are covered by God’s love. This could be done as part of the children’s sermon time OR they could be given this as a task to do during the regular sermon and then invited up during offering or benediction or at another point in the worship to put their worries on the heart. You could also ask the whole congregation to do this and post them on the heart on their way out.

Faith+Prayer: God, we worry. We worry about__________________ (name some things that were brought up by the children). We pray for all those people who worry about daily food and shelter and clothing. We ask for your love to bring us all peace and quiet our worried hearts. Amen.

Children’s Sermon #2 (Children’s worship time/longer version)

**Invite someone to join you in this children sermon for a bit of ‘acting’ fun. This can be another adult, youth, or even older elementary aged child.

Faith+Open--Welcome children to gather with you.

Person 1: Walk around a bit and wring your hands looking worried.

Oh, I am so worried. I’m just worried about what should I do? Where should I go? Who can help me? I’m… just worried.

Person 2: Hey, what’s going on? Why are you so upset?

Person 1: I am just not sure about… well, I am… well, worried about all the things to do and choose from….and…

Person 2: Oh my, yeah, there can be lots of things that make us worry. (turn to kids) What are things that make you worry? (invite responses)

Person 1: See, seems like worrying is what we need to do!

Faith+Share:

Person 2: Well, I understand, there are worrisome things but we also have this message from God in our Gospel today. 

Read from Spark Storybook Bible or version. Below are the words from Spark Storybook Bible 

Jesus loved to teach people about how God wants people to live. “God takes care of us!” Jesus said. “Don’t worry about what you are going to eat or what you might wear or when you’ll grow taller. God will take care of these things for you. Look at the birds. Do they worry about what they eat? Of course not! God makes sure they have good. Look at the flowers. Do they worry about what color they are? Of course not! God made them each beautiful in their own way. And God makes you beautiful too. You’re beautiful simply because you are you!”  Then Jesus said, “Listen! There is far more to life than worrying. Worry gets you nowhere—so stop! The one things you need to do is put God first. Trust that God will take care of you!” Spark Storybook Bible, Augsburg Fortress, p. 276

Person 1: Oh, so just worrying probably isn’t helping me. God is promising to be there through all these things that make me worry.

Person 2: Yep, that’s right. God’s love is big and wide and God’s love is always with you. So when you worry—because we all do, we can remember these words from God and promises from Jesus. We can pray and ask for peace and we can think about these words instead of all the worries in our heads and hearts.

***Person 1: That reminds me of another story.

Read: All Things Bright and Beautiful by Cecil F. Alexander and Ashley Bryan OR He’s Got the Whole world in His Hands by Kadir Nelson. Each of these stories expands on the idea of God providing care and love for the whole world. For a more detailed look at these stories go to Children's Literature Lectionary Link Feb. 27 

***Additional Option: This is a great way to open up the service to include all ages in engaging in giving our worries to God. I so hope someone does this! Tell me about it if you do!

Have kids write or draw their worries on pieces of paper and then tape them to a giant heart shape. After they are on, cover them up with another heart that matches so that they are covered by God’s love. This could be done as part of the children’s sermon time OR they could be given this as a task to do during the regular sermon and then invited up during offering or benediction or at another point in the worship to put their worries on the heart. You could also ask the whole congregation to do this and post them on the heart on their way out.

Person 2: What does that story say about how God feels about the people in the world? (invite response) How about how God feels about us? (invite responses)

Sing: He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands  

(click here for a sound link from KIDiddles )

He's got the whole world in His hands,

He's got the whole world in His hands,

He's got the whole world in His hands,

He's got the whole world in His hands.

He's got my brothers and my sisters in His hands,

He's got my brothers and my sisters in His hands,

He's got my brothers and my sisters in His hands,

He's got the whole world in His hands.

He's got the sun and the rain in His hands,

He's got the moon and the stars in His hands,

He's got the wind and the clouds in His hands,

He's got the whole world in His hands.

He's got the rivers and the mountains in His hands,

He's got the oceans and the seas in His hands,

He's got you and he's got me in His hands,

He's got the whole world in His hands.

He's got everybody here in His hands,

He's got everybody there in His hands,

He's got everybody everywhere in His hands,

He's got the whole world in His hands.

Faith+Prayer: God, we worry. We worry about__________________ (name some things that were brought up by the children). We pray for all those people who worry about daily food and shelter and clothing. We ask for your love to bring us all peace and quiet our worried hearts. Amen.

Materials: Spark Storybook Bible or other children’s Bible, picture books All Things Bright and Beautiful by Cecil F. Alexander and Ashley Bryan OR He’s Got the Whole world in His Hands by Kadir Nelson if using, paper, big red hearts, tape, music

Children's Sermon Epiphany 7A February 20, 2011

Scripture Focus: Matthew 5:38-48

Children’s Sermon #1 (Within Worship)

Faith+Open--Welcome children to gather with you.  (Prop: a Valentine or big heart)

We just had Valentine’s day, right? Did you have parties at school or home? Did you get any Valentine’s? Did you give any away? Who do you give valentine’s too? (wait for responses, reacting to giving them to loved ones/people they know). For those of you in school, do you give Valentine’s to everyone in your class?

Faith+Share:  I am wondering about who Jesus would give a Valentine to. I am wondering because we just heard words from the Gospel of Matthew that tell us that Jesus said we should love our family and friends and our neighbors but that we should also love our enemies. What do you think that means?

So Jesus is telling me to love people even when they aren’t nice to me? Or even people that I don’t know? Wow. I think that sounds like a lot of Valentine’s Jesus would give away if he would give one to even the people who didn’t like him or believe him. 

It also sounds kind of hard. My little brother used to make me so, so, so so mad that sometimes it was pretty hard to be nice to him or pray for him or give him something like a Valentine. Does that ever happen to you?

The good news is that Jesus does love us all and we can tell others about his love and let our love be a part of that gift from God. One way we can love is to pray for people and to let our hearts be open to know that they are loved by God too.

Option: Sing Jesus Loves Me or Love, Love, Love or other song of God’s love they are familiar with and can sing with you.

Option: Hand out candy hearts or small packs of them.

Faith+Prayer: Jesus, you have taught us who to love and how to share your love by what we say and do. Please be with all people, even those that we may not know or may not be able to call our friends. Help us to feel how big and wide your love is.  Amen.

Children’s Sermon #2 (Children’s worship time)

Faith+Open-- Welcome children to gather with you.  (Prop: a Valentine or big heart)

We just had Valentine’s day, right? Did you have parties at school or home? Did you get any Valentine’s? Did you give any away? Who do you give valentine’s too? (wait for responses, reacting to giving them to loved ones/people they know). For those of you in school, do you give Valentine’s to everyone in your class?

Faith+Share:  I am wondering about who Jesus would give a Valentine to. I am wondering because we just heard words from the Gospel of Matthew that tell us that Jesus said we should love our family and friends and our neighbors but that we should also love our enemies. Let’s hear the Gospel (again) for today.

Read Matthew 5:38-48 or part of it. Recommend to read from the Spark Storybook Bible (pg. 274) or other children’s bible. What do you think that means?

So Jesus is telling me to love people even when they aren’t nice to me? Or even people that I don’t know? Wow. I think that sounds like a lot of Valentine’s Jesus would give away if he would give one to even the people who didn’t like him or believe him. 

It also sounds kind of hard. My little brother used to make me so, so, so so mad that sometimes it was pretty hard to be nice to him or pray for him or give him something like a Valentine. Does that ever happen to you?

Option: Read Down the Road by Alice Schertle-This book tells a story of a little girl who is worried that because she broke eggs on the way home from the store that she will not be forgiven. Shows the unconditional love of God for us and for all people.

The good news is that Jesus does love us all and we can tell others about his love and let our love be a part of that gift from God. One way we can love is to pray for people and to let our hearts be open to know that they are loved by God too.

Sing Jesus Loves Me or Love, Love, Love or other song of God’s love they are familiar with and can sing with you.

Activity Option: Prep hearts or paper to make hearts. Have kids write them write Matthew 5:44 on their heart and decorate it.

Option: Hand out candy hearts or small packs of them.

Faith+Prayer: Jesus, you have taught us who to love and how to share your love by what we say and do. Please be with all people, even those that we may not know or may not be able to call our friends. Help us to feel how big and wide your love is.  Amen.

Materials: Children’s Bible, Valentine, supplies for activity option (paper, crayons, scissors, markers, words to Matthew 5:44), music or way to sing songs, candy hearts option, picture book Down the Road.

Author: Leta Behrens, BA Education; M.Div.

Love Notes

Happy Valentine's Day! 
I was coming up with a game for my daughter's class party and found an idea on familyfun.com to write love notes from famous pairs to see if you can guess who wrote it and who received it. The first one is from their site but the rest are original works of love note art by myself and husband :-). See if you can figure them all out! Leave your guesses in the comments--write who it is FROM and then who it is TO (for example From: Romeo To: Juliet)! Have fun! I'll post the answers Tuesday!

1. "Dear Valentine,

I think you are beautiful even when covered in ashes and soot. I dream of taking you away from your evil stepmother's house. When you come to live in my castle, you will ride in royal carriages instead of pumpkins. I will give you anything you want in life, whether it's glass slippers or to be able to stay out later than midnight.

Love, 
Your secret admirer" (this one only is from familyfun.com, the rest are original)

2. Dear Valentine,

I do not think you have figured out yet that I have a secret to share. I do adore you, even if you cannot rescue me from my tower. Never fear, I will find a way to rescue us both so we can be together and return to my castle…. But first I must brush my hair.

Love, Your Secret Admirer

3. Dear Valentine,

After being bit by the arachnid of love, I just can’t sling my web far enough to catch your attention. I hope soon we will be together and we can swing from building to building on a silk thread. Catch ya later!

Love, Your Secret Admirer

4. Dear Valentine,

The closer I am to you, the more attracted I am to you. The paper I have been attached to recently doesn’t pull me the way you do. I hope soon we’ll be stuck together.

Love, Your Secret Admirer

5. Dear Valentine,

I have been so lonely on this bread alone. Although I am sticky, I think we could be yummy together. I hope to see you at the counter, don’t spread yourself too thin!

Love, Your Secret Admirer

6. Dear Valentine,

Your red hair reminds me of a Valentine heart even though you do not notice me yet. I thought I should cast a spell, but my wand is broken in half and I do not want to turn you into a rat. I am so glad that we were sorted together and I hope to see you soon in the dining hall. Be careful, “you know who” might be watching!

Love, Your Secret Admirer

7. Dear Valentine,

I am on my way to rescue you. I just wanted to let you know that my levels of love for you never cease. I have stomped on the Gumba, ridden the Yoshi, and jumped over holes and been flushed down pipes. I will be victorious once I defeat your captor. You will know me by my mustache.

Love, Your Secret Admirer

8. Dear Valentine,

I am deeply sad to see you sleeping so deeply. The little men are sad as well and have not been able to go back to the mines. I will find a way to free you from the spell and then we will ride my white horse to a beautiful castle. I promise you will never have to eat an apple again.

Love, Your Secret Admirer

--By Leta Behrens and Rob Behrens, 2011

Epiphany 5A Children's Sermon--Light and Salt!

Scripture Focus: Matthew 5:13-20

Salt and Light are wonderful images that are concrete connections for children. There are so many ways to bring those images into focus! Here are some ideas for you this Sunday. Blessings on your time with kids! By: Brigette Weier and Leta Behrens

Children’s Sermon #1 (Within Worship)

Faith+Open--Welcome children to gather with you.  Have a bag with a flashlight  on inside of it, something that they can tell a light is on. Wander around a bit looking for something. Comment on how you are having a hard time seeing and you don’t understand why because you have a flashlight in your bag. Why is my flashlight not helping me find this? It’s on? Right? Hhmmm.. What should I do? (hopefully this will elicit the response to take the flashlight out of the bag!)

Faith+Share:  Take the flashlight out of the bag. Oh, now that my light is out of the bag, it’s not hidden. It works better! Then shine the light in your bag and pull out some other items—‘finding them.’ Have a salt shaker, a candle, and a picture of a city on a hill with lights.

Look at all these things in my bag! We heard Jesus tell us today that we are like these things—salt and light. You know what light does right; it helps us see in the dark, when we don’t hide it! Do you know what salt does? (take some responses if there are any). It flavors food and it helps keep food from spoiling. So Jesus is giving us images—pictures with words—to help us imagine that we can be salt and light in the world. We don’t hide our lights or the story we have about how much God loves the world. How do we show others about God’s love? (take responses).

OPTION--Have one more thing in your bag—glow sticks! Hand them out and invite kids to shine their lights while you sing “This Little Light of Mine” or “You are the Light of the World” (words at bottom of post)

OPTION—have the sermon hymn be “This Little Light of Mine” and invite kids to wait to ‘turn on’ their glow sticks at that time. Have the whole congregation join in this Hymn!

Faith+Prayer: Jesus, you are our salt and light. Thank you for loving us and giving us the gift of faith and life so we can be salt and light in the world. Amen.

Children’s Sermon #2 (Children’s worship time)

Set Up: Before worship, ‘hide’ a salt shaker and candle in the room. You will pretend to be looking for them. You can also hide a glow stick for each child if you are using that option (be sure to know where they all are!)

Faith+Open--Welcome children to gather with you.  Have a bag with a flashlight  on inside of it, something that they can tell a light is on. Wander around a bit looking for something. Depending on your room  you could really play this up, really looking for something that hidden. Comment on how you are having a hard time seeing and you don’t understand why because you have a flashlight in your bag. Why is my flashlight not helping me find this? It’s on? Right? Hhmmm.. What should I do? (hopefully this will elicit the response to take the flashlight out of the bag!)

Faith+Share:  Take the flashlight out of the bag. Oh, now that my light is out of the bag, it’s not hidden. It works better! Then shine the light around the room looking for the other items—‘finding them.’ Have a salt shaker, a candle, and a picture of a city on a hill with lights.  Look at all these things I found! I wanted to find them because they are part of the Gospel story today. Did you hear Pastor ______ talking about light and salt? Let’s hear that again:

Read from a children’s Bible (Spark Storybook Bible is page 268)

Ask some open ended questions about the story. What did you hear? Have you been called salt or light before? What do you think that means? We heard Jesus tell us today that we are like these things—salt and light. You know what light does right; it helps us see in the dark, when we don’t hide it! Do you know what salt does? (take some responses if there are any). It flavors food and it helps keep food from spoiling. So Jesus is giving us images—pictures with words—to help us imagine that we can be salt and light in the world. We don’t hide our lights or the story we have about how much God loves the world. How do we show others about God’s love? (take responses).

There is something hidden around this room for you to find to help you remember about being a light and sharing the story of how much God loves us—glow sticks! Have kids find one glow stick each or hand them out and invite kids to shine their lights while you sing “This Little Light of Mine” and/or “You are the Light of the World” (words at bottom of post)

OPTION—have the sermon hymn be “This Little Light of Mine” and invite kids to wait to ‘turn on’ their glow sticks at that time and walk back in shining their lights.  Have the whole congregation join in this Hymn!

Faith+Prayer: Jesus, you are our salt and light. Thank you for loving us and giving us the gift of faith and life so we can be salt and light in the world. Amen.

Materials: Children’s Bible, bag, flashlight, salt shaker, picture, candle, glowsticks (or bracelets or whatever is easy to find, does not have to be big)

**Permission to use for non profit setting. Permission to print and use with credit given to original authors if reproduced. 


Song Lyrics:

This Little Light of Mine:

(ELW 677)

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.



Won't let Satan blow it out.
I'm gonna let it shine.
Won't let Satan blow it out.
I'm gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.



Hide it under a bushel - NO! 
I'm gonna let it shine. 
Hide it under a bushel - NO! 
I'm gonna let it shine, Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. 



Let it shine over the whole wide world, 
I'm gonna let it shine.
Let it shine over the whole wide world, 
I'm gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

You are the Light of the World Lyrics

You are the light of the world

You are the light of the world

So Shine, Shine, Shine where you are

You are the light of the world

You are a candle in the dark

You are a candle in the dark

So Shine, Shine, Shine where you are

You are a candle in the world

You are the salt of the earth

You are the salt of the earth

So Shine, shine, shine where you are

You are the salt of the earth

You are a city on a hill

You are a city on a hill

So Shine, Shine, Shine where you are

You are a city on a hill

You are the light of the world

You are the light of the world

So Shine, Shine, Shine where you are

You are the light of the world

January 30, 2011 Epiphany 4 Children's Sermons

Scripture Focus: Matthew 5:1-12

 The beatitudes are a teaching moment with children especially when we can emphasize the grace and mercy that are present from God in these teachings. When we read the beatitudes are gospel, they show us how God is in the world, how God loves and cares for people, and how blessings are are promises of God's presence and love to be with us even in the most difficult times. 

Children’s Sermon #1 (Within Worship)

Option 1:

Gathering--Welcome children to gather with you.  Who are people who teach you? (invite short responses) Do you ever get to teach others? In our gospel reading today Jesus is gathering people together to teach them about blessings. To tell them about God and God’s love that is there for us even when things seem sad or lonely or scary.

Activity:  Read the Beatitudes from the Spark Storybook Bible (page 264) or other children’s Bible or retell them in your own words. Ask children to listen for the word ‘blessed or blessing’ and keep track on their fingers how many times they hear the word.

Tell how Jesus was gathering people to teach them and tell them about God is like and how God sees us, loves us, and cares for us. Emphasize that Jesus is teaching us that when something seems sad or poor or painful God desires for joy and riches and healing. The promise is that God is with us and even when it seems that we are not blessed or not happy, we are held in God’s arms as children of God and we will be restored by God.

Ask: How many times did you hear ‘blessing’ or ‘blessed’?  Why do you think this is what Jesus wants to teach us? Can we teach this to others? How? We can show others God’s love and blessings when we are caring and kind and when we see them as blessed by God. We also take care of ourselves when we remember that we are loved and we are blessings to God in this world.

Option 2:

Gathering—Do you have any people who teach you? Have you learned any math, like how to count? We could count to 5 together—1,2,3,4,5. How about counting by 5s, anyone know how to do that? 5, 10, 15, 20. Did you notice how quickly the numbers got bigger and bigger when we counted by 5s?

 Activity: Have you ever heard someone say ‘count your blessings’? Hhhmm, I wonder what they mean? Counting blessings seems like we would count things that we are thankful for or that make us happy? In our gospel story today did you hear the words Jesus was teaching? He was saying Blessed are… the poor, those who are sad, those who are hungry, those who are merciful and peaceful. Then Jesus is telling us how God’s blessings are in the world and how God loves and cares for us even when things in life are not perfect and maybe even sad or scary or hurtful. So I did some simple counting with these beatitudes and so count on your fingers with me the blessings that Jesus is teaching about God.

1.     Hope—God brings hope to us and to the world and promises to always be with us

2.     Love—when we are sad or hurt or in need, God promises to love us all the time

3.     Mercy—when we are lost or in need God will help us

4.     Kindness—that no matter what we do we God will love and forgive us

5.     Peace—we are God’s children all the time and everywhere.

These are all promises of God that Jesus teaches us and they are blessings we can count on! We also can be blessings in the world by using our fingers and remembering to bring hope, love, mercy, kindness, and peace to our families—even brothers and sisters who might bother us, our friends, our classmates, and even people we don’t know who need to experience God’s blessings. And just like when we counted by 5s, when we are blessings to each other, God’s love grows sand spreads and bigger and bigger and wider and wider.

Pray: Jesus, you are our teacher about hope, love, mercy, kindness, and peace. We are your children and we praise you. We are blessings in this world and we ask you to be with us. Amen

Children’s Sermon #2 (Children’s worship time)

Option 1:

Gathering--Welcome children to gather with you.  Who are people who teach you? (invite short responses) Do you ever get to teach others? In our gospel reading today Jesus is gathering people together to teach them about blessings. To tell them about God and God’s love that is there for us even when things seem sad or lonely or scary.

Activity:  Read the Beatitudes from the Spark Storybook Bible (page 264) or other children’s Bible or retell them in your own words. Ask children to listen for the word ‘blessed or blessing’ and keep track on their fingers how many times they hear the word. You can also ask them to stand up or sit down every time they hear the word.

Tell how Jesus was gathering people to teach them and tell them about God is like and how God sees us, loves us, and cares for us. Emphasize that Jesus is teaching us that when something seems sad or poor or painful God desires for joy and riches and healing. The promise is that God is with us and even when it seems that we are not blessed or not happy, we are held in God’s arms as children of God and we will be restored by God.

Discussion: Ask: How many times did you hear ‘blessing’ or ‘blessed’?  Why do you think this is what Jesus wants to teach us? Can we teach this to others? How? We can show others God’s love and blessings when we are caring and kind and when we see them as blessed by God. We also take care of ourselves when we remember that we are loved and we are blessings to God in this world.

Song: We can praise God for these blessings! Sing the song “Praise ye the Lord”  (if you don’t know this song, here is a link: http://www.biblestudycharts.com/CH_Praise_Ye_The_Lord.html

Divide the group in half. The “Hallelujahs” stand for their part and the ‘praise ye the Lord’s stand for theirs. Do the song a few times, getting faster and/or changing parts.

Words: Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah,

Praise ye the Lord!

Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah,

Praise ye the Lord!

Praise ye the Lord, Hallelujah,

Praise ye the Lord, Hallelujah,

Praise ye the Lord, Hallelujah,

Praise ye the Lord!

Option 2:

Gathering—Do you have any people who teach you? Have you learned any math, like how to count? We could count to 5 together—1,2,3,4,5. How about counting by 5s, anyone know how to do that? 5, 10, 15, 20. Did you notice how quickly the numbers got bigger and bigger when we counted by 5s?

 Activity: Have you ever heard someone say ‘count your blessings’? Hhhmm, I wonder what they mean? Counting blessings seems like we would count things that we are thankful for or that make us happy? In our gospel story today did you hear the words Jesus was teaching?

Read the beatitudes from the a Bible. Have kids count the number of times they hear the word ‘Blessed or blessing’ See how many you get.

Discussion: Jesus was saying Blessed are… the poor, those who are sad, those who are hungry, those who are merciful and peaceful. Then Jesus is telling us how God’s blessings are in the world and how God loves and cares for us even when things in life are not perfect and maybe even sad or scary or hurtful. So I did some simple counting with these beatitudes and so count on your fingers with me the blessings that Jesus is teaching about God.

1.     Hope—God brings hope to us and to the world and promises to always be with us

2.     Love—when we are sad or hurt or in need, God promises to love us all the time

3.     Mercy—when we are lost or in need God will help us

4.     Kindness—that no matter what we do we God will love and forgive us

5.     Peace—we are God’s children all the time and everywhere.

These are all promises of God that Jesus teaches us and they are blessings we can count on! We also can be blessings in the world by using our fingers and remembering to bring hope, love, mercy, kindness, and peace to our families—even brothers and sisters who might bother us, our friends, our classmates, and even people we don’t know who need to experience God’s blessings. And just like when we counted by 5s, when we are blessings to each other, God’s love grows sand spreads and bigger and bigger and wider and wider.

Song: We can praise God for these blessings! Sing the song “Praise ye the Lord”  (if you don’t know this song, here is a link: http://www.biblestudycharts.com/CH_Praise_Ye_The_Lord.html

Divide the group in half. The “Hallelujahs” stand for their part and the ‘praise ye the Lord’s stand for theirs. Do the song a few times, getting faster and/or changing parts.

Words: Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah,

Praise ye the Lord!

Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah,

Praise ye the Lord!

Praise ye the Lord, Hallelujah,

Praise ye the Lord, Hallelujah,

Praise ye the Lord, Hallelujah,

Praise ye the Lord!

Pray: Jesus, you are our teacher about hope, love, mercy, kindness, and peace. We are your children and we praise you. We are blessings in this world and we ask you to be with us. Amen

Materials: Children’s Bible, list of beatitudes

Children's Sermon Epiphany 3C January 23, 2011

Scripture Focus: Matthew 4:12-23

In Worship Children’s Time:

Gather—

Good morning! Do you remember that word we have used in worship/Sunday school for the season of the church year we are in? Epiphany! It’s winter outside and in the church year we are talking about Jesus bringing light to the world. There was a verse read today in our Gospel from Matthew it said, “¹⁶the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.” (or The Message says People sitting out their lives in the dark saw a huge light; Sitting in that dark, dark country of death, they watched the sun come up)

Have you ever SAT in darkness? Or been in complete dark? Maybe camping or going down in a basement? Let’s try something, everyone kind of cover your eyes. Are you sitting in darkness? Ok, now peek through your fingers and what do you see—

Here shine a flashlight gently on their hands so they can see the light peeking through.

Yeah, you see light coming through! Ok, now uncover your eyes. Have you ever used a flashlight? How did it help you? We know that Jesus is like a light because he promises to be with us no matter if it’s dark or if we feel scared or lonely. Jesus promises to love us and always be with us.  And in our Gospel story he even starts asking people to come and follow him and learn about being a light and sharing God’s love with others. So we have been given the light of Jesus and asked to follow him telling others of his love.

If you have time and are brave you can hand out a flashlight to each child and ask them to turn it on while you pray or ask them to go around in a circle, each praying for someone who might need Jesus Love today.

Pray: God thank you for Jesus and for promising to love us always. Send your love to all throughout the world today and help us to remember your love for us. Amen

Children’s Worship during Sermon:

Gather—Good morning! Do you remember that word we have used in worship, Epiphany? It’s the season of the church that we are in. So it’s winter outside, but in the church year we are celebrating light and how Jesus came into darkness.

Our gospel reading today is from Matthew. I want to read a verse and then let’s try an experiment.

Story Experience:  Read Matthew 4:16 ¹⁶the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.”  (or The Message says People sitting out their lives in the dark saw a huge light; Sitting in that dark, dark country of death, they watched the sun come up)

Did hear that? They SAT in darkness. Hmmm, do you think we could try that? Let’s turn off the lights and close your eyes if you want to and let’s see how it feels to sit in darkness. (Careful with little ones not to scare them. Depending on your room you may not want it completely dark).  Keep talking—oh my it’s interesting in the dark. Anyone hear something they didn’t hear before? How does it feel to be in the dark?

Turn on a flashlight, the brighter the better. How does this light look in the darkness? Have you ever been camping or someplace where you needed a flashlight? How did it help you? What else can you use flashlights for (finding something, when electricity goes out, etc)

Jesus in our gospel is telling us how he is a light when we feel like we are alone or in the dark or sad. Have you ever felt that way? How can you see the light of Jesus when you feel that way? Talk about this idea further, building on their responses. Remind them that the promise of Jesus for the whole world is that he will always be with us, even when it’s dark and we aren’t sure he is there, he is holding us and loving us.

Activity: We have lights

Hand out small flashlights to the kids. Depending on numbers they may need to share or take turns. If you have a lot of kids, put them in small groups first, sitting in a circle so they can pass the light around. Depending on your time/number of kids you can have them play a little with the flashlights on the wall or carpet, etc.

Pray:  We are going to pray with our lights today.  Sit in a circle. Have everyone turn off their flashlights. Explain that each person can pray either for someone they know or for a part of the world or anything they want to pray for that might need to know, see, and feel Jesus’ love today. When it’s your turn  you will turn on your light and say your prayer. By the time we get around the circle we will all have prayer lights on. If you don’t want to say anything and just turn on your light, that works too.

**modification if you don’t have enough flashlights, kids can pray in partners or you can simply pass one flashlight around or if sharing lights then simply turn it off and back on with the next person.

Materials: Bible, flashlights—several, best one per child, one large flashlight for leader.

Children's Sermon Jan 16 Isaiah 49:5-6

The texts this week reflect a Big God that dreams big for the world. Isaiah, for a few weeks now, has been talking about a promised presence and light to the nations and Jesus' is bringing the same message of salvation in his time and in ours. One of my favorite blogs is out of Union Presbyterian Seminary that is a resource on Children's Literature Biblically and theologically (here's the link http://storypath.wordpress.com). For this week the suggested picture book is God's Dream by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Douglas Carlton Abrams. It's a simple, yet well done message about God's love and care for the world and our call in it. Here is my children's sermon for this week using and adapting this resource. The first one is a children's sermon for 'in worship' time so it is brief. The second one is for a children's time where kids leave the worship space during the sermon for their own sermon time. Feel free to use in your worship setting! I found the picture book at my local library. If you can't find it, print photos of children from around the world and talk about how God has promised a light to all nations--to al the world and what that might look like.

Children's Sermon #1 (within in Worship)
Gather—
Do you ever daydream? Or remember night dreams?
What do you dream about?
What do you think Jesus dreamt about while he was here on earth?

Book Experience— I found the picture book at my local library. If you can't find it, print photos of children from around the world and talk about how God has promised a light to all nations--to al the world and what that might look like. 

Share a few pages from the God’s Dream book. It is the time of Epiphany, the season in the church where we talk about God's light being in the world and our call to be a light in the world. Did you hear our scripture for today from Isaiah? He is speaking for God and says, "I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth."  God loves the world and sent Jesus to be a light showing that God’s love is for all. We are called by God to be lights too in how we treat one another and how we share the story of Jesus coming to the world. What are ways we show this or do this? 

Accept answers and highlight our call in the world. Explain to children that offering our prayers for others is one way we can love and care for the world anytime, anywhere. Hand out pieces of paper (could be shaped like clouds to symbolize dreams) and tell kids that they can write a prayer for the world or their dream for the world on the paper. Invite them to place this is the offering later in the service. You could also use their prayers for the prayers of the people time. Get creative!

Pray--God your dreams of peace and love for the world offer us hope. Thank you for loving us and being with us always. Thank you for being our light and help us to be lights for others. Amen

Children's Sermon #2 (Children's worship time)
Gather—
Do you ever daydream? Or remember night dreams?
What do you dream about?
What do you think Jesus dreamt about while he was here on earth?

Reading Experience--God’s Dream by Desmond Tutu and Douglas Abrams
Introduce book and tell a little bit about Tutu then read story
Reflection Questions:
What did you notice about what the other believes God dreams about?
How do you feel about God’s dreams?
Do you think the author left any out?
How do you know who loves you?
What would it be like if we could really hold hands with people from all over the world?
How do we learn about people in different parts of the world?
How do we reach out to those who may need to hear about God or experience love and care from other people?
Relate this also back to the offering our prayers up as a way of showing God's love and care in the world anytime and anywhere.

Bible Verse-- Read Isaiah 49:5-6
And now the Lord says, who formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honored in the sight of the Lord, and my God has become my strength— (6) he says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
**option here is to work on memorizing the second part of verse 6 or Isaiah 42:6 which is similar.

"God’s Dream is about a world in which all of God’s children join hands in peace, reconciliation and unity. Even though we come from different lands, have different eyes and skin, and talk to God in different ways, we are still brothers and sisters. By “sharing, loving, caring” and “knowing we are family” we can “make God’s dream come true.”  We have been called to be light to others, to care for them and share our lives with them." (quote from Children's Literature: A Resource; above link).

Activity--Prayers for the world…
Hand out pieces of paper (could be shaped like clouds to symbolize dreams) and tell kids that they can write a prayer for the world or their dream for the world on the paper. Invite them to place this is the offering later in the service. You could also use their prayers for the prayers of the people time. Get creative!

Pray-- God your dreams of peace and love for the world offer us hope. Thank you for loving us and being with us always. Thank you for being our light and help us to be lights for others. Amen

Materials: cut up slips of paper, colored pencils or markers, Bible, God’s Dream book

**use and adapt as needed for your setting giving credit where credit is due and not duplicating for profit purposes.